By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – For the third season in a row, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country coaches voted
Ben Stensland and his staff at Western Washington University as Coach of the Year for the 2025 campaign.
Working alongside
T.J. Garlatz and
Haley Stensland, Stensland helped lead the Vikings to their fourth consecutive women’s and men’s team titles at the GNAC Cross Country Championships in October. WWU’s nine men’s team titles are second most in GNAC history and its five women’s team titles are tied for second most in GNAC history.
WWU went on to be the league’s top finishing team at both the NCAA West Region Championships and the NCAA Championships. At the regional meet on Nov. 8 in Monmouth, Ore., the WWU women posted a team score of 140 points for third place before the men checked in with 88 points for second place. The Vikings combined for seven all-region performers (four men, three women), and each team qualified for the national meet for the third season in a row.
On Nov. 22 in Kenosha, Wis., the WWU men tallied a team score of 373 and finished in ninth place – the highest among three GNAC teams that were in the field of 34 teams competing. The WWU women meanwhile checked in at 13th place with 383 points, also marking the highest national finish by a GNAC team this season.
The award marks the ninth time since the GNAC was founded in 2001 that WWU has earned the GNAC Coach of the Year Award, with former head coach Pee Wee Halsell claiming the first six such honors. The award is voted on by the league’s 10 cross country head coaches.
The Vikings also kept their historic streak of GNAC titles across the sports of cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field alive with the success this fall. Beginning with the GNAC outdoor track titles in the spring of 2023, WWU has swept both the women’s and men’s team titles at eight consecutive meets across the three sports for a total of 16 consecutive trophies.
| The Viking XC/TF Title Streak |
| Season |
Sport |
Men's Team Finish |
Women's Team Finish |
| Spring, 2023 |
Outdoor Track & Field |
First |
First |
| Fall, 2023 |
Cross Country |
First |
First |
| Winter, 2024 |
Indoor Track & Field |
First |
First |
| Spring, 2024 |
Outdoor Track & Field |
First |
First |
| Fall, 2024 |
Cross Country |
First |
First |
| Winter, 2025 |
Indoor Track & Field |
First |
First |
| Spring, 2025 |
Outdoor Track & Field |
First |
First |
| Fall, 2025 |
Cross Country |
First |
First |